Friendship can be Difficult
by Innatecraziness
Summary: It's very, very easy to call Gentaro stupid. But, in a way, he's smarter than everyone else in the club, simply because of the one thing that he is good at. Being a friend.


_**Friendship can be Difficult**_

Gentaro's never claimed to be very clever. In fact, he's pretty stupid, as far as some people go. He doesn't get good grades, and he can't really pay attention in class. But, in other ways, Gentaro considers himself one of the smartest people alive. Okay, so he can't ace the biology test or probably ever visit some foreign country, but he notices things.

He himself admitted it once. The only thing he's good for is watching out for his friends, because they mean the world to him. Which is why he notices everything about them. It's the only way he can call himself smart, because he notices things that other people don't, sometimes he notices things that the people themselves haven't come to realise.

For example, he sees through Miura when Kengo asks him if he remembers any clues to Scorpio's identity. He hesitates, just a moment too long, and Gentaro knows he knows. But he doesn't let Miura know, because if Miura is hiding it, then it must be for a good reason.

And, either way, he already knows. Sonoda-sensei's disappearance and Scorpio's appearance was just too convenient. But he won't mention it, because that would only create even more problems. Kengo would overreact, Yuuki would be disbelieving, and one of the others might end up getting hurt.

And so, because Gentaro can't prove it, his mouth stays shut, and he continues acting the fool. Happy and cheerful is something he's never done wrong, because the people around him smile at the same time.

But that's just as fragile, isn't it?

Nobody but him sees it, trapped up there in the Rabbit Hutch. The glances thrown here and there, the tension that lies just under everyone's skin. They're even easier to see now that he's experienced them himself, with Nadeshiko. The most obvious is Miu, and her sidelong glances at Shun when she thinks nobody is looking. Her faithless prince, who she nonetheless still loves.

But that only complicates matters,. Because Shun's never returned those glances. Not once, even while he was dating her, the spark never came from his side. Gentaro first noticed with Satake, but it's most obvious now. His glances, his longing stares, have always been reserved for Nozama, the pale, creepy girl who was almost certainly off limits to him before.

And, in many, many ways, is still impossibly out of reach. Shun might have cast aside the nobility forced upon him by his father, the necessity to be the high and aloof King of the school, but he wasn't in the underpass that day, listening to the rants of a shunned girl. He didn't see the look in Nozama's eyes as she cherished every moment with her _own _beloved, carefully preserved every touch.

Gentaro listened to that rant. Gentaro knew what she was saying, because it wasn't the first time he'd witnessed that kind of behaviour. With Nozama, that explosion, that denail, was unconcious, like she couldn't help herself. But with JK, it's deliberate.

The flamboyancy, the parties, and, of course, all of the women. It's all a front, trying to conceal what lies underneath. A scared little boy who doesn't want to be hurt or betrayed in any kind of way. And, to that extent, refused to even try and acknowlege what he feels, instead denying it with another glass of some mystery drink. But even that doesn't get rid of sideways glances, the occassional helpless grab… Gentaro almost wants to say it for him, but that would ruin the entire point.

And, of course, Kengo can't see it because Kengo's always looking somewhere else. Forever lost in the shadow of his father and trapped in a cage of sickness, Kengo's only looking out for one star, the one that always there when he needs it most. That's why he was hurt so much by the destruction of the Rabbit Hutch's door, her betrayal. Maybe even why he was so hostile towards Gentaro at first.

No… Gentaro knows that's it. But Kengo's got it all wrong. Maybe he once saw Fourze as a method to gain the girl of his dreams, but she's so far out of his reach that Gentaro almost wants to cry. Because Yuuki doesn't look at him, he's only a moon, too obvious and safe. Nor does Yuuki look at Kengo, the dying star, or Nozama, something barely visible, always burning just out of sight.

No, Gentaro knows Yuuki better than anyone else in the whole club. He might even know her better than herself. Because he knows who she looks at. It isn't Neil Armstrong, it isn't Yuri Guragin, hell, it isn't even Mitsuki Gamon. No, Yuuki is and has always been drawn to the brightest star, and, try as he might to deny it, there's only one Venus in the Kamen Rider Club for her to look to.

Gentaro sees these all. A web woven through the club, relying on the silence of others to keep it stable, because a single word from anyone will shatter those bonds. And this is why Gentaro isn't really stupid like Kengo says.

It takes a lot of effort to look in at yourself, but it can sometimes take even more effort to figure other people out. But it's what Gentaro takes pride in, it's why he wants to befriend everyone. Because he can see what makes them weak, he can see what they close their eyes to, and he can help them. He knows Sonoda is Scorpio, and he knows that Miura knows. He knows that Miu still loves Shun, and the Shun loves Nozama. He can see the shared gaze of Nozama and Kengo towards Yuuki. He decyphers the behaviour of JK and his oldest friend to see who they love the most.

And, of course, sometimes he has to get away because it reminds him so, so much of Nadeshiko.

Friendship can be difficult. It's one of the most difficult things that Gentaro's ever done. But that isn't why he's taking a moonwalk when he should be in class. No, there's one more friend Gentaro has to make. The transfer student, Sakuta Ryuusei, he's being very clever. But Gentaro can still see right through him. He transferred _too _close to the new Kamen Rider for it to be a coincidence.

Still, no point in busting him straight away. Eiji and Sho-chan didn't seem to care much, but when he asked Tomoko she said that most Kamen Riders perfer to keep their identity secret. That's fine with Gentaro. He's gotten better at acting, after all.

**(AN: Anything written here can and will be debunked by whatever shows up in canon. This is merely my take on Gentaro, because nobody can possibly be _that_ stupid. Seriously 50% is the highest grade? That's barely passing. He would have failed out of school by now.**

**Also, Mirua knowing who Scorpio is should be obvious. _She approched him and transformed halfway through her speech_! Gentaro figuring out that Sonoda is Scorpio was also a rather basic deduction. I'm going with the fact that neither of them particularly want to disturb the others with these implications, so they're keeping them to themselves.**

**Again, violently non-canon. Oh, and I'm not done with Fourze yet. I have an absurd plan that builds off this, so wait around for it./AN)**


End file.
